Men's trauma program may be a first in U.S.

Monday, February 28, 2011

By Carmen Cusido

STAFF WRITER

PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- Princeton House Behavioral Health is
now offering a program exclusively for men, including those
who have experienced traumatic events that are affecting
their sense of well-being.

The need for the program became apparent as Princeton House
continued to treat men who exhibited symptoms of
post-traumatic stress disorder, Kameron Cassella, a clinical
coordinator at Princeton House Behavioral Health's
outpatient office, said in a prepared statement.

"We had seen so many men in our programs over the years
who had experienced trauma," Cassella said. "But
when we researched it, we found there were very few
available resources to treat this population."

The only other men's-only program the staff at
Princeton know about is called the Men's Trauma Centre
in British Columbia, Canada. That program offers individual
and group support.

The Princeton program, which offers intensive outpatient and
partial hospital services, opened Jan. 24. Eight men are
currently being treated at the Mount Lucas Road outpatient
office in Princeton.

Patients have included men who experienced childhood abuse
or other trauma. Some are war veterans, Sept. 11 survivors
or victims of serious motor-vehicle accidents. There are
also EMTs and others in dangerous, high-stress professions.

Each man in the program receives group and individual
therapy, coping and life-skills training, and education
about maintaining physical and emotional health, according
to the Princeton HealthCare System.

Dr. Lorna Stanley, a psychiatrist and the medical director
for the outpatient program, said the men-only program is
partly modeled on the system's success with the
women-only program.

"For both (programs), it's difficult to process the trauma that is related to sexual abuse," Stanley said. "Women do respond a little differently than men (to treatment). For men, there are some specifics, usually aggressiveness is more common, and substance abuse is more common in men with a history of trauma," Stanley said....